FROM MY FILES FRIDAY
My son and I spoke last week at a meeting of the Loudoun County Crime Commission. Mike Chapman, the Loudoun County Sheriff, is doing a fabulous job there of getting his officers Crisis Intervention Team training. Along with his wife, Annie, the Chapmans have become strong advocates for improving mental health services in their county, which is adjacent to Fairfax County, where I live.
This was only the second time that my son and I have appeared together, and I was surprised when he mentioned things about his breakdown that I’d not heard before. It was a reminder to me about how important it is to listen to persons with mental illnesses when they are stable so that we can better understand what they experienced when they were in the throes of a breakdown.
The meeting, which you can read about here, was exciting for me because of the Chapmans’ genuine concern and because of the cooperation that I saw between mental health professionals, local National Alliance on Mental Illness members, law enforcement and lawyers who attended the meeting.
Sadly, I’ve not seen any such concern or cooperation in Fairfax, one of the wealthiest and best educated counties in the nation. I’d like to report that conditions had improved since I wrote this blog in July 2011 but I’d be lying and all of us who live in Fairfax are worse off because of it.
A LACK OF LEADERSHIP HURTS FAIRFAX COUNTY
Originally published July 25th, 2011.
As my recent flight began its descent into Dulles International Airport, I felt a sense of frustration, embarrassment and irritation. The cause is a lack of leadership in my home county by the Fairfax County Bar Association, Commonwealth’s Attorney, and our local judiciary. Those of us with loved ones who have severe mental disorders deserve better.